A review of literature indicates that there are concerns in a number of countries that the role of principal, conceived for the needs of the past, is no longer relevant or effective to deal with the complex challenges schools are facing in the 21st century (Duignan, 2012, p. 121).

Many of the challenges facing educational leaders involve situations where values and ethics are contested. These challenges are multi-dimensional and involve complex human behaviour, as well as different expectations and possibly different values from different stakeholders who may be culturally diverse.

We often do what we want and then create a moral code that suits our actions……the result is a corrupted intellectual conscience that no longer values the truth, if it can still distinguish the truth from falsehood at all. Dallas Willard has argued that this results in our behaviour guiding our ethics rather than our ethics guiding our behaviour (p66). What a dangerous place to be!